


i’ll love you enough for both of us

by Misterdevere



Series: what’s life without love [11]
Category: Kingsman (Movies)
Genre: Aftermath of Violence, M/M, Major Character Injury
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-21
Updated: 2020-08-21
Packaged: 2021-03-07 02:40:42
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,496
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26019694
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Misterdevere/pseuds/Misterdevere
Summary: Leo and Merlin receive some horrible news
Relationships: Merlin/Gary "Eggsy" Unwin
Series: what’s life without love [11]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1868476
Comments: 4
Kudos: 19





	i’ll love you enough for both of us

“Leo?” Merlin called out as he heard the front door close and was quickly in the hallway before he had a chance to take his coat or shoes off. “I have to tell you something, lad.”

Leo’s stomach dropped. Despite his firm jaw and his calm demeanour, Merlin’s reddened eyes gave him away. He forced himself to speak around his dry tongue. “What is it?”

“Your dad’s been taken to hospital. He’s been stabbed, he’s having emergency surgery.”

“What?” Leo’s bag fell from his shaky hands. “I-How? Why? Is-is he gonna be alright?”

“They’re doing their best, I’m sure. They couldn’t tell me exactly what damage had been done when the police came but he’s alive, at least. He’s a fighter.”

“But I don’t understand, why, why would someone do that?”

“They say it was a random attack, maybe part of a gang initiation.”

“Someone tried to kill my dad to join a fucking gang?” Angry tears fell from Leo’s eyes and Merlin wrapped him up in a hug, some of his own falling too. The boy’s entire body shook in his arms so Merlin squeezed him tighter. “When can we see him?”

“I’m not sure. When he’s out of surgery and awake, I’m guessing. I was gonna go to the hospital and wait so that I can be there when he wakes up, I just wanted to be here to tell you in person when you got home. I can stay if you need me here, though, they’ll call when he’s out of surgery.”

“No, I wanna go with you.” Leo wiped at his wet cheeks, trying to put on a brave face. “I wanna be there.”

“Okay.” Leo went to drop his bag upstairs and Merlin grabbed his keys and wallet, and by the time they met back at the door Leo was crying again. Merlin put an arm around his shoulders. “If you want to come, then of course you should, but you don’t have to. If you don’t want to see him hurt, that’s okay.”

“No, I’ll be fine. I wanna go.” Merlin nodded and they headed off to the hospital. They were stuck in a waiting room for hours, Leo’s leg bouncing nervously the entire time. He pulled his feet up onto his chair and hugged his knees. “Did you know I had my appendix out when I was little?”

Merlin looked up at him startled - it was the first time either of them had spoken in more than an hour. He shook his head. “No, I didn’t.”

“I was like 7 or 8 and I had to have it removed and dad stayed at the hospital with me. He lost one of his jobs because they wouldn’t give him time off at short notice so he told them to shove it up their arses. And we needed the money - I remember after that he didn’t eat sometimes because he couldn’t afford to feed both of us - but he didn’t care because he wanted to be there for me no matter what.” Tears streamed down Leo’s face, his nose running and his voice breaking. “It never mattered that I only had one parent because he always loved me enough for two. Always. And I always loved him back just as much.”

Merlin sat beside him and pulled Leo’s head against his chest, carding his fingers through his hair. “I’ve known from the first day I met him how much he loves you, the way he beamed when he talked about you. He called you, on one of our first dates, his reason for being. He said that you are what gives him purpose, what motivates him, what got him a life for himself. Because he’s so proud of you - he always has been, from when you were a tiny baby and started grabbing at things to getting into uni - and he wants to be someone that you can be proud of too.”

“Course I’m proud of him.” Leo sniffled a little. “Is it supposed to take this long?”

“I don’t know, lad.” He’d been wondering the same thing himself though.

“What if he’s not okay?”

Merlin’s hand paused in his hair for just a second before he carried on. “He will be. There’s no way he’d miss you graduating or getting married or starting your career or having kids or whatever other incredible things you do with your life.”

“Might not really be up to him though. What’s if he’s not?”

“Then you’ll have me. And I’ll have you. And I’ll give you all of the love that he can’t. All of my heart.” Although he tried to hide it, Leo noticed the strain in his voice. “But it’s okay, we don’t have to worry about that because he’ll be fine.”

Leo sat up again. “He didn’t really go out with many people when I was young. Or at least not many that he cared enough about for me to meet. I always felt bad that he didn’t get to have a happy relationship like other people’s parents did because of me. He went out with this woman that just weren’t interested in kids, and he could’ve been happy with her if he didn’t have me. And then he went out with this bloke, and before he introduced us, he sat me down and explained to me that he’s bi. You know, like in the way that people explain to kids - some people like men, and some people like women, and some people like both or neither or any number of other things, and all of those things are okay - and I didn’t care because he’s my dad and I love him and I thought it was cool that there were more people that could make him happy. So he went out with this guy. And he turned out to be a prick. When dad weren’t around, he’d always tell me how much of a pain in the arse I was and how much happier they’d be if I weren’t around, so course dad fucked him off as soon as he found out. And there weren’t really anyone else after that because we were our own little family and we were happy as we were and we didn’t need anyone else.” Merlin tried to smile at him but it quickly crumbled. “And then he met you.” Leo had a little grin but Merlin’s face only fell further as he bit his own lips. “And he really liked you and he wanted me to make an effort with you and you were nice to me whether he was watching or not. And then he loved you and you loved him, and when I stopped being such a fucking arsehole to you, you loved me too. We got to be a family, I got to have two parents like other people do, he got to be in a happy relationship with someone. He finally got all the good stuff he deserves.”

Merlin let out an ugly sob as he squeezed his fingers over his eyes and Leo’s started to water again. “Please, lad.”

“I just want you to know - whether he really is okay or not - that you’ve made him happier over the last seven or eight years than I’ve ever seen him, probably more than he’s ever been. And I’m really grateful.”

Merlin pulled him into another tight hug and pressed a kiss to the top of his head. “Thank you.” He took a minute to pull himself together and let him go again. “You weren’t an arsehole, you were a teenager. And you were such a great kid, all the good bits of your dad with a bit of extra fire.”

“Like he ain’t got enough of his own.”

Merlin laughed. “He can certainly spark it up when he needs to.”

“Excuse me, gentleman. You’re Mr. Unwin’s family?”

“Yes, that’s right. How is he?”

“He’s doing fine. The surgery went well, he’s in recovery.”

They both let out sighs of relief. “Thank you.” Merlin gave her a warm smile. “When can we see him?”

“It depends how long it takes him to wake up properly and how the anaesthetic affects him. It could be an hour, it could be a few but you’ll be able to see him tonight.”

“That’s great, thank you.”

“No problem. Someone will update you if you’re here, otherwise just check in at the desk and they can update you.”

She was just about to leave when Leo stopped her. “Hey, um, how bad is it? Like, what should we expect?”

“No one’s told you about his injuries?” They both shook their heads. “He sustained seven injuries: one to his right thigh, one to his right lower back, two to his abdomen which perforated his intestine, as well as his left lower arm and hand and his left cheek.”

“Fuck.” Leo’s almost slammed his hand over his mouth. “I’m sorry.”

She smiled at him kindly. “That’s okay. The surgery was mostly for his abdomen. The other wounds were fairly minor but they’ve been stitched up. There’s a fair amount of bruising at the moment but he should heal up just fine.”

“Right. Thanks.”

Merlin gave his shoulder a squeeze once they were alone again. “You okay?”

“Yeah. Just kind of thought it would be one thing, you know?”

“Yeah, I suppose I did too. But at least we know he’s okay now.”

“Thank fuck. Should’ve known he’d put up a fight.”

“He is where you get your scrappiness from.”

Merlin sat down and Leo flopped down into the seat next to him. “Oi, I’m not scrappy!”

“Are you not? Is that not literally the first word your dad used to describe you to me?”

“It better not have been!” The boy looked truly outraged. “How was that meant to get us off to a good start?”

“He said you were scrappy and smart and strong. He didn’t have to say that he loved you to bits. He made it perfectly clear to me that if I had no intention of ever being a stepdad to you, then there was no point in us seeing each other again.”

“Jesus, it’s like he was _trying_ to scare you off,” Leo snickered.

“Maybe he was and now we’re too far in for him to say so.” Leo tutted. “It was smart, though. If he knew that was what he was looking for, what would be the point in getting however many months down the road to find out I had no interest in doing that? I knew from the start that you mattered more than anything.” He put his arm around Leo’s shoulders and spoke in a soppy voice. “And you still do, our precious boy.”

“Stupid.” Leo shoved at him with a chuckle. “It’s driving me kinda crazy sitting here, you wanna go for a walk?”

“Yeah, come on. It’ll be a while still, let’s go and get something to eat, we can bring some snacks back for your dad, they’ll want him to eat when he wakes up.” They were gone for a while and checked in at the desk when they got back. “Excuse me, has Gary Unwin been moved to a ward yet?”

“Not just yet, he’s been a bit sick since coming around so they’re keeping him in recovery a little bit longer.”

“Why’s he sick? Is that normal?” Merlin could sense the panic in him and wished he could sooth him via some form of telepathy.

“Some people react that way, it’s nothing to worry about.”

Eventually he was moved and they were told where to find him. “Are you sure you want to see him, lad?”

“Yeah. Are you?”

“Yeah. Come on.” They made their way to the ward and the doctor was right to mention the bruising because half of his face was covered. Leo’s lip trembled despite his determination to stay strong. “How are you feeling, love?”

“Not bad. Kinda sore, pretty sleepy but okay. It’s good to see you two.”

“It’s good to see you too.”

“I’m so fucking glad you’re okay.” Leo sat at his right side and Eggsy reached to wipe each of his cheeks dry with his thumb.

“It’s alright, mate. I’m alright.” Eggsy held up his injured arm. “Lucky it weren’t my good hand, ain’t it?” Leo shook his head with a soft laugh. “I love you.”

“I love you too, dad.”

Eggsy turned to Merlin. “How you doing, love?”

“I’m okay. Relieved.” He cupped Eggsy’s good cheek in his hand. “I love you so much.”

“I love you too. Kinda scary having police show up, yeah?” Merlin nodded. “They need to speak to me. Can’t really tell them much though.”

“Just tell them what you can, there must be CCTV they can use, other evidence. It’ll be okay.” The police weren’t far behind Leo and Merlin and he told them the little he could. They didn’t say anything, they were too covered up for him to guess at age or ethnicity; all he could tell them was that there were two of them and a rough guess at their heights but they seemed to understand and leave without too much grilling. “You did well, love.”

“Always thought I’d be a better witness than that. Not really much I can do about it now though.”

“Did they say how long you’re in here for? Or how long you’ve gotta recover at home? I could take a couple of weeks off from uni to help, guess you’re not gonna be able to do much with stitches in your belly.”

“Don’t you dare, you will do no such thing. I will not have you missing out because of this.”

Merlin smiled at the strictness of his tone. “It’s okay, lad, I can take time off work. He’ll be looked after, don’t worry.”

“They reckon I’m gonna be here for a couple of days anyway so don’t panic about it.”

“Oh yeah, we brought you some snacks and a crossword book, thought it might cheer you up a bit.”

Eggsy smiled at him. “Thanks, mate. Just wanna sleep right now but it’ll be good tomorrow.”

While Eggsy let his eyes slip closed, Merlin made a small gesture in Leo’s direction and got a small nod in return. “We should leave you to get some rest, love, will you be okay?”

“Yeah, I’m good.”

Merlin pressed a long kiss to his forehead. “I’ll be back first thing. I’ll bring the basics with me but let me know if there’s anything else you want.”

“I’ve got lectures in the morning and I’ll come here afterwards, yeah?”

“Alright. See you tomorrow. Love you both.”

They both echoed the sentiment and wearily made their way home, both letting out heavy sighs as they closed the front door behind them. Leo tugged Merlin into another hug. “Alright?”

He nodded against Merlin’s shoulder. “You alright?” Merlin nodded too. “I love you.”

“Love you too, lad.”

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading! I promise I'll bring you something more cheerful next time
> 
> Come find/shout at/cry with me on tumblr @ misterdeve


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